Mysterious “Void” Discovered in Great Pyramid of Giza

Scientists came across a 30-meter-long space hidden withing the pyramid’s limestone and granite walls

For centuries, archaeologists and scientists have probed inside the pyramid of Giza. Even though mystery is no stranger to it, no one had stumbled upon such a space hidden within the walls, until now.

Modern technology was used to visualize the inside of the pyramid, hoping that it will provide further information to help scientists understand how the massive pyramid was built.

The Great Pyramid has three already discovered rooms: the King’s chamber, a smaller Queen’s chamber and a passageway named the Grand Gallery. However, this marks the first discovery of a major space since the 19th century, and it was just about time.

The team of scientists responsible for the discovery work with ScanPyramids, a mission under the French Heritage, Innovation and Preservation Institute, the Faculty of Engineering of Cairo, and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. They applied a physics technique that allowed them to track particles called muons that come from cosmic rays striking atoms in the upper atmosphere. When these particles fall and pass through different materials, they lose their energy, causing them to slow and decay.

With the use of detectors, scientists can count the number of muons that are passing through the pyramid. As they are absorbed by stone, any large holes in the pyramid would result in more muons that expected landing on the detectors.

The team was sure that they discovered something soon after placing the detectors inside the Queen’s chamber. They noticed a large number of muons passing through, suggesting that there was something that waited to be discovered.

Source: cnn.com